Iran can substantially benefit from Germany's knowhow in management of surface and underground water resources, said the head of Iran's regional section at German Water Partnership (GWP).
"Germany has ample experience dealing with problems of similar nature on national and international spectra to offer Iran for resolving the challenges it is currently facing in the rural and urban sewage systems," Dr. Shahrouz Mohajeri told ILNA.
He pointed to unification of Germany when the sewage system of East Germany and the state of Rhine River were in shambles, and said West Germany made remarkable contributions to alleviate the situation.
"Iran could use that kind of expertise to save river Zayanderud in Isfahan Province," he said.
Signs of the drought in Iran, which according to experts has lasted for more than two decades, are surfacing everywhere across the country, drying up the once mighty Zayanderud for years now.
"At a time when Rhine ran so dry it could be home to no fish for 15 years, sophisticated and efficient management saved the river that currently runs deep," he said.
The water crisis is one of the main challenges Iran faces on its way to becoming a developed nation.
The issue can only be resolved through the adoption of expert approaches and strategic decisions.
The European state has a history of collaboration in the field with the Islamic Republic. The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is financing and operating an integrated management plan called "Integrated Water Resources Management in Isfahan" to revive Zayanderud.
The joint project aims to bundle together the relevant skills and capacities of both partner countries to develop sustainable water management along the river and to balance the competing demands of agriculture, industry, human beings and the environment, and secure sustainable development of water resources.
The first phase of the plan, which started in 2010 with a consortium of Iranian and German scholars, specialists and companies, was completed in February 2015. The second phase commenced on March 1, 2015.
"Public, industrial and technological sectors were also encouraged to contribute," he said.
